Shooting Stars go one up against New Zealand A at Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln.

In brief: Australia U23 7/253 (S Aley 125, N Bolton 27, R Farrell; Z McWilliams 2/33) defeated New Zealand A 7/247 (V Lind 78, R Kember 44, L Doolan 43, R Priest 36; R Rimmington 3/39, R Chappell 2/50) by 6 runs

The Shooting Stars batted first with the innings built around Sarah Aley's 125 off 112 balls (14 x 4, 3 x 6). She came to the wicket in the 15th over with the score at 2/42 and was the 7th wicket to fall in the 49th over with the score at 7/241. Aley and Nicole Bolton (27 off 43) combined for 78 for the 4th wicket off 15.1 overs and she shared a crucial partnership of 44 with Elysse Perry (15* off 18) for the 7th wicket off 6 overs.

New Zealand A used eight bowlers in an effort to stem the tide but only Prashilla Mistry (0/28 off 10) went for less than 4 an over. Zara McWilliams picked up the wickets of Aley (stumped) and Renee Chappell (caught & bowled) as she finished with 2/33 off 6 to be the only multiple wicket-taker. Lucy Doolan (1/20 off 3), Beth McNeill (1/32 off 8) and Rachel Candy (1/32 off 7) were the other wicket-takers.

New Zealand A's reply got off to a good start with Ros Kember and Doolan combining for 69 off 17.5 overs before Doolan (43 off 62) was caught by Aley off Rene Farrell. Kember and Victoria Lind added a further 30 before Kember (44 off 75) was caught by Rachael Haynes off Jess Cameron. At this stage New Zealand A were 2/99, requiring 155 off 154.

Lind and Amy Satterthwaite took the score to 147 in the 37th over before two wickets fell for two runs - Satterthwaite (14 off 28) was caught by Nicole Bolton off Renee Chappell and then Megan Wakefield (1 off 7) was bowled by Chappell.

Lind and keeper Rachel Priest then put on 79 off 11 overs before Rikki-Lee Rimmington struck twice in four balls to remove Priest (36 off 34) and Amanda Cooper (1 off 2) both bowled. New Zealand A required 25 off 13 balls and when Lind (79 off 89) was also bowled Rimmington in the 50th over, New Zealand A required 17 off 5.

McNeill (9* off 6) and Candy (2* off 2) could only add 10 and the Shooting Stars were home by 6 runs. Rimmington finished with 3/39 off 10 while Chappell took 2/50 off 9. Of the other five bowlers used, Cameron finished with 1/36 off 6 while Farrell took 1/46 off 7. Along with Rimmington, Perry (0/24 off 7) was the only other bowler to concede less than 4 an over.

The next match in the three match series is tomorrow at the same venue.

Shooting Stars v New Zealand A Thursday 15 Feb   

Shooting Stars remain one up against New Zealand A after a tie in game 2.

In brief: Australia U23 189 (R Chappell 57, A Healy 41, E Inglis 32; A Cooper 3/7, M Murphy 2/8, R Candy 2/36) tied with New Zealand A 189 (B McNeill 52*, M Murphy 39, Z McWilliams 24; J Cameron 2/24, L Shave 2/25, S Aley 2/36)

The Shooting Stars batted first and at one stage were 3/151 in the 26th over before losing 7/38 to be all out for 189 in the 40th over.

Opener Alyssa Healy (41 off 58) and Renee Chappell (57 off 70) combined for 59 off 10.2 overs for the 2nd wicket while Chappell and keeper Emma Inglis (32 off 26) put on 58 off 7.5 overs for the 4th wicket.

Amanda Cooper took 3/7 off 3.2 overs, including the wickets of Delissa Kimmince (1 off 12) and 1st game centurion captain Sarah Aley (batting at 11, 0 off 1) lbw off consecutive balls to finish the innings. M Murphy took 2/8 off 4 overs while Rachel Candy took 2/36 off 7.

New Zealand A struggled in reply as they were 8/110 in the 31st over. A partnership of 79 off 18.5 overs between Beth McNeill (52* off 67) and Zara McWilliams (24 off 51) levelled the scores with an over remaining. Aley shrugged off her earlier failure with the bat to take the last two wickets with consecutive deliveries, having McWilliams stumped and then bowling Candy.

The last match will be played today.

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Shooting Stars v New Zealand A Friday 16 Feb   

Series tied after New Zealand A win third & final match by 22 runs.

In brief: New Zealand A 234 (R Kember 86, L Doolan 69, A Satterthwaite 31; J Cameron 6/28, R Chappell 2/48) defeated Australia U23 212 (A Healy 64; R Candy 3/40, L Doolan 3/51)

New Zealand A batted first with the openers putting on 130 before Lucy Doolan (69 off 71) was caught by keeper Emma Inglis off the bowling of Renee Chappell.

From 2/194, New Zealand A succumbed to the Aussie spinners as they lost 8/40 to be all out for 234 in the 48th over. Opener Ros Kember (86 off 106) was the 5th wicket to fall while Amy Satterthwaite (31 off 40) was the only other batter to reach double figures.

Jess Cameron was the pick of the Aussie bowlers with 6/28 off 8.5 while Renee Chappell finished with 2/49 off 10.

Australia lost regular wickets in the chase to be all out for 212 in the 47th over. Although six batters reached double figures, Alyssa Healy (64 off 84) was the only batter to pass 20.

Rachel Candy took 3/40 off 9.1 while Doolan had a good all-round match picking up 3/51 off 10.

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The Commonwealth Bank Shooting Stars:

Sarah Aley (captain), Nicole Bolton, Jessica Cameron, Renee Chappell (vice captain), Rene Farrell, Rachael Haynes, Alyssa Healy, Emma Inglis, Delissa Kimmince, Kate Owen, Elysse Perry, Rikki-Lee Rimmington and Lauren Shave.

Coach: Brian McFadyen, Assistant coach: Joanne Broadbent, Physiotherapist: Carol Hitchcock.

Check out the media release announcing the squad. Note, Jessica Cameron was a late addition after Emma Sampson was called up to the Southern Stars

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